The Blade Chronicles

The Verdict

***Nico's Point of View***

The hours had ticked by slowly and by the time the doctor came to us we were all tired and weary. The words that washed over me caused happiness to bubble through my veins. Emily was okay. The doctor had to do an emergency operation to remove the bullet before it could cause any further damage. The doctor said she had lost a lot of blood and suffered a minor concussion but she'd make a full recovery. Mr and Mrs Quinnzel hugged each other in delight and I shook the doctor's hand and thank him. Soon a nurse came and showed us to Emily's room. Mr and Mrs Quinnzel had told the nurse I was Emily's brother in order to allow me to visit her. When we went into her room we were all a bit shocked by the sight of Emily. She had a tube by her nose supplying her with oxygen and an IV needle in her hand. She was as white as snow. I walked towards the chair in the corner allowing her parents to be by her side.

They both quietly greeted her and I knew she was awake. Her mom placed a kiss on her forehead before asking softly how she felt. Emily smiled but had admitted that it felt as if a hammer was hitting her over the head repeatedly. Her mom had responded that they could get the nurse to give her some more pain killers but she declined saying she didn't want to sleep again yet. 

It was then that she saw me. Guilt took her smile away and replaced it with sadness. "Nico, I owe you an explanation." "It's okay, you get all better and that'll be explanation enough for me." She smiled sadly before asking her parents if we could talk alone. Her parents looked between the both of us then gave a grim nod. They left and I walked to her side. 

"The person that did this is on your side, Nico." She said displeasure colouring her tone. "What do you mean on my side?" "My parents are ex-fugitives. The person that shot me tonight was probably working for one of the government agencies or as a bounty hunter. I've been targeting their ex-agents so that they'd back off and give me information on more people like me." "You can't tell me that you went on with this battle thinking you wouldn't make enemies!" I say anger colouring my tone. She rolls her eyes but I can tell she's trying to hide her anger. "I'm not that naïve, Nico." She says her tone cold. 

Her parents returned soon after the tension still hanging in the air. Once they had her full attention I slipped out of her room fuming. 

 ***Blade's Point of View***

I couldn't believe Nico thought I was so naïve of course I knew the consequences of my actions. That's exactly why I had so many safety measures in place. That's why I was known as ruthless. Most of my gang members don't know my true identity only my name and trust me they fear it enough to not double cross me. They know first hand what happens to snitches and backstabbers. If Nico wants this to be the end of our ties then so be it. 

My dad handed me his phone stirring me from my thoughts. "Jakk?" "Boss the shooter got away. Our men shot at him but only one managed to graze his arm." "You think some of them were in on it?" "I dunno boss but I'm sure we can get the information out of them one way or another." "Good. If they are poor marksmen lets give them a crash course soon." "Sure thing boss." With that Jakk hung up. My dad looked at me expectantly. I gave him the phone and signaled him in our secret language that the shooter had gotten away. When my mother looked at us quizzically I smiled and told her the shooter had been taken down. 

The nurse walked in and I knew she was about to announce the end of visitation time. My parents reluctantly said goodbye and left me. I switched the tv on and waited for the food...

***Nico's Point of View***

When I got home, I had to explain to my dad why my clothes were stained with blood. When I told him that Emily had been shot he sunk into the couch for the first time in life I could see the age cling to him. I sat next to him and told him that she was okay and that we could go and visit her in the morning. He seemed to cheer up at that thought and quickly served our dinner. We ate in silence before I excused myself and went to the bathroom to clean up. I threw my clothes in the bin wanting to forget the fact that the girl I loved had been shot. With that thought I got into a hot shower hoping I could burn the thought away and along with the images of Emily almost dying. It had been the longest night of my life.